Jinnah International Airport Karachi (not Karachi International Airport) is the largest domestic and international airport of Pakistan. Jinnah International is located in Malir District of Karachi, which is the largest city of Pakistan in terms of both population and financial activities. The city is home to around 25 million people. The airport is the only international airport in the province of Sindh.Jinnah International is main hub for flagship carrier of Pakistan, PIA and many other private airlines like Air Blue, Indus Air, Shaheen Air. The airport is also a hub of Air Cargo handling. Karachi Airport code / Karachi Airport IATA code: KHI
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Karachi Airport Name is “Jinnah International Airport”
Jinnah International Airport is named after the founder of Pakistan – Muhammad Ali Jinnah. The Birth place of Jinnah (also known as Baba-e-Quom in local Urdu Language) was Wazir Mansion in Karachi. He lived in Karachi as First Governor General of the newly formed country and remained in this position till his death. He died in Karachi and his mausoleum (Mazar-e-Quaid) is in Karachi as well. At that time Karachi was capital of Pakistan.
Karachi Airport Map
Karachi Airport Arrivals
Karachi Airport International Arrivals and Karachi Airport Domestic Arrivals, both, are located on the ground floor (Level 1) of the airport building. Once you come out of the airport to Jinnah International Airport Arrival area, you will find yourself surrounded by at least 1000 people, who have come from various parts of the country to welcome their friends and relatives who are arriving back to home.
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Inside the Karachi International Airport Departures
The airport building comprises of 2 satellite concourses located on Level 2 (first floor). The eastern satellite is exclusively for international flights while the western one is for domestic travel. Each satellite concourse has a capacity to hold 8 carriers with Air Bridge. The entry for domestic and international passengers is from separate gates and the lounges are separate too. The domestic departure lounge is on the west while international departure lounge is on the east. Both the departure lounges are on the first floor and passengers can be dropped on the bridge that leads to the first floor, if going through the car. If the car is parked in the parking area, first floor can be reached via escalators on the ground floor.
How to Enter International Departure Lounge?
Only passengers are allowed to enter the departure lounges. At the entry, passengers have to show the tickets and the passport. The see-off family / friends will not be allowed to enter. You can enter Karachi Airport Departures either via car park or via drop off area on the Departure Bridge. If you have luggage, you can take Baggage trolleys or porter services. Porter services are charged ones usually PKR 400 to 500 plus any tip and will take you from the departure gate till the boarding is issued. Usually unaccompanied females or family with young children take this charged service.
Luggage / Baggage Screening
After the entry inside Jinnah International Airport Departures, the luggage / baggage is scanned. If you are moving your luggage trolley then you have to put the luggage yourself for screening. If you have porter, he can place that for you on the machines. The luggage will be scanned in the machines operated by ASF (Airports Security Force). After that the Customs and Anti-narcotics will check and ask to open the baggage, if required.
Issuance of Boarding Pass
After the clearance from customs and anti-narcotics sections, proceed to the right side, all airlines counters are there. Go to the counter of your airline. Show them the ticket, passport and handover the check-in luggage. The airline staff at the counter will issue the boarding pass. You can also wrap your luggage with plastic if required, before handing the luggage to the counter. There will be an additional charge for wrapping the bags with plastic.Expect long queues in the boarding counter, so arrive at the airport before 3 hours of the flight. The counter will usually consume 30 to 60 minutes of your time.The boarding pass will not be issued if you don’t have “Okay to Board” for certain visa categories and flight requirements. Like if you are going for Family joining visa or single entry visa to Oman or UAE, you must have “okay to board” before permitted to travel. If you are going on employment visa, then you must have protector stamp on your passport.
Immigration Process
After issuance of boarding pass, proceed to the immigration counter. That is in front of the anti-narcotics and custom clearance counter, where you were before. Although there are many different queues on the immigration counter like Foreign Passports, Minor and Unaccompanied Women, Senior Citizens, Family etc but they are not strictly followed. You can stand in the queue which is shortest.The immigration officer will ask for the passport, the boarding pass, and the visa / copy of visa with “okay to board stamp” (so take extra copy with you). The photograph would be taken and exit would be stamped on the passport and boarding pass.There is additional queue after the counter to check that the exit has been stamped on your passport or not. After this check, duty free shops will be located.
Karachi Airport Duty Free Shop
There are many shops for leather products (jackets, wallets, bags, belts, etc), souvenirs, sweets (methai), ladies stoles, packed foods and many other. So keep some place in your hand carry to accommodate this shopping.
CIP Lounge Karachi Airport
CIP Lounge is a premium lounge for travelers with access via Priority Pass, various credit cards or by payment. CIP Lounge Karachi charges are around 1,000 Pakistani Rupees per person. The lounge has a comfortable sitting area and light snacks are also served there. This lounge is prior to the final hand carry screening. So when you leave the lounge, keep this time before boarding also into consideration.There are other lounges in airport too like PIA Business Plus.
Final Screening before Gates
Before the sitting area, the final screening would be done, where the hand carries will be scanned and passenger has to pass from the metal detector. After this, you can sit near your departure gate. There are Gates 5 to 8 and Gates 21 to 28.
Sitting Area
Check the gate number at your boarding pass to see where to sit. In the sitting area, there are many restaurants, book stores, pharmacy etc to do last minute shopping or eating.
Praying Area
There is a very small praying area besides the boarding gates. For the airport of this size, the praying area should be proper and bigger. The current praying area is just a make shift arrangement.
Boarding to the Aircraft
The boarding will be announced and the wheel chair passengers, senior citizens and families with young children will be allowed boarding earlier. The air bridge will be there to link airport and the aircraft, so there is no time waste in going to the aircraft by bus.
Does Karachi Airport have wifi?
Yes free wifi is available at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport. To get connected follow 4 easy steps – Connect to Optify wifi, register yourself, Get OTP code, enter and get connected. This wifi information is as of June 2019.
Parking Area
There’s a charged parking area in the airport on both sides of McDonald’s restaurant. There are options to drop passengers at drop off bridge on level 1 or receive at the arrival – without parking. Departure drop off is free while for arrival its charged.
Visa on Arrival at Karachi Airport
Depending on the country, diplomats and officials can get Visa on arrival for a month or three months. As of 2019, many citizens are eligible for on arrival tourist visa. Apply at NADRA website and obtain an Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) 48 to 72 hours prior to your visit to Pakistan.
Below is the List of Offical and Diplomat for Visa free entry at Karachi airport.
Expired NICOP and POC holders visa on Arrival
If you are an overseas Pakistani with an expired or lost NICOP, CNIC issued to Non Resident Pakistanis, and Pakistan Origin Card (POC), there’s a great news. You can get still enter Pakistan without any Visa requirement by showing Renewal slip or getting a special 72 hours landing permit Free of cost at the airport.